The Mystery
_ OF =====
Carney-Croft
By
JOSEPH BROWN COOKE
(Uopjrtgbt, HUT. by Siorr-Pren CorporaUou.)
CHAPTER I.
A Mystery Is Started.
That old John Carney dropped dead
•of apoplexy in his saddle while vio
lently curdng the stable-boy for a
trivial delay in bringing his horse to
the door was not regarded by the com
munity as any special cause for re
gret, but that the boy, who was kicked
in the head by the plunging and terri
fied beast, died a few hours later, was
looked upon in the village as little
short of murder.
Young John was In Honolulu, pre
sumably keeping a watchful eye on
the family's sugar interests, but prob
ably devoting himself to sociological
studies and charitable work among
the natives. Florence, the only daugh
ter, was the mistress of her father's
house, lmr mother having died in the
•early nineties. She was the only
member of the family at home when
"the accident occurred.
She telegraphed immediately to me,
1 being the youngest and practically
the only active partner in the firm of
lawyers that managed her father's af
fairs. I responded at once in person
and was at Carney-Croft by noon the
next da?.
I was astonished, not only by the
extent of the place, but at its beauty
and almost baronial magnificence.
There were acres upon acres of vel
vety lawns intersected by miles upon
miles of well-bedded roads and bridle
paths, while the timber had been
weeded out by a master hand so craft
ily that one was given the impression
of an old and long inhabited estate
rather than of a park hewn out of a
■virgin forest within a single decade.
The house was even more of a sur
prise than the grounds, for although it
was, in some respects, scarcely fin
ished, it was already moss-grown and
ivy-clad and suggested a Jacobean
structure of very respectable an
tiquity.
Mis:j Carney was watching for me
at th? entrance, and came running
down the steps of the broad terraces
surrounding the mansion, to greet me
the more cordially as I clambered out
of the old-fashioned trap that had
'brought me from the station.
"You were good to come so soon,"
«he said gratefully, extending her
hand with winning grace. "1 wanted
to send a carriage to meet you, but
all the stablemen have left since the
little boy died. I have only the house
servants that we brought from town."
I made the best answer 1 could un
der the circumstances for, while her
recent bereavement was more than
enough to excite my deepest sym
pathy, the fact that her father had
been our best client for many years
•gave to my presence at the house a
-mercenary taint not exactly consist
ent with noblesse oblige.
Luncheon was served as soon as I
returned from my room, and I was
seated opposite my hostess at a small
round table. I had never seen Miss
Carney before and it cannot be de
nied that the vision of my sweet
faced companion, partly concealed by
the palms between us, was In no way
unappreciated by my masculine eye.
After luncheon we sat in the library
and talked over briefly the events of
the past few days.
I had learned from my garrulous
-driver in the forenoon the circum
stances that accompanied Mr. Car
ney's tragic death, and my interview
with his daughter had more to do
with the arrangement of her future
affairs than with any references to
■the past.
"I wish Jack were here," she said,
suddenly; "it is so hard to be alone."
"I cabled him as soon as I received
your telegram," I replied, "and he can
get a ship to-morrow or the day after.
Hut must you be alone? Have you no
friends here in the village?"
"Not one," she returned. "You know
-we live very much by ourselves out
here and—and—the village people
have nevor taken kindly to fa'.her—or
—or —to me, for that matter. In fact,"
she continued, smiling wanly through
her team, "they think us worldly and
purse-proud and—and 'stuck up,' if I
must say it. And yet daddt* tried to
do so much for them, and laid out
■work that wasn't at. all necessary and
all that —just to give them employ
ment. Why! last winter, when some
of the people were nearly starving, he
had ice cut in the river and piled up
on the banks for weeks at a time to
keep the men busy, but as soon as the
warm weather came they forgot it all
and even said he was a fool who threw
away his money. No," she added slow
ly, "I haven't a friend in the village
to whom 1 could turn."
"Hut there must lie someone," I in
sisted; "somebody who could come
here and stay with you until your
brother returns."
She rested her elbow on the chair
arm for a moment and pressed her
■hand against Iter temple. Then, rais
ing her head quickly with a satisfied
air, Khe exclaimed:
"Why, yes! 1 could send for Annie
Weston, Hnd she would be delighted
to come! It. would do the poor girl
good, too," she added thoughtfully;
"she Ims been ill so long aud is just
beginning to Improve. That's exactly
what I'll do!"
"Whfr is Annie Weston?" I asked
with Interest, for the idea seemed to
have brought new hope into her eyes,
and I was glad that it had come from
my suggestion.
"OhI" she was a school friend of
mine and is the sweetest, girl that
ever li*ed," returned Mifl-s Carney.
"Her fafher and mother are both dead
and fhe is quite alone in"he world,
so she (an come jus! as will as not,
and I know she will love to be here as
much as I will to have her. I should
have as!»ed her to visit me long ago,
but she was taken ill soon after we
left schrol and is only beginning to
get back her strength."
The dry after the funeral 1 returned
to the t'lty and, rather thiMi subject
Miss Carney to any inconvenience by
accepting her offer of the only car
riage at her disposal since the stable
hands lied deserted the place, I rode
to the rfT'lway station in the trap that
had brought me down.
"So yoti're old Carney's lawyer, be
ye?" inq tired my driver, with rustic
familiarity, crossing his legs and lean
ing one arm carelessly over the back
of the seat in front of me.
I admitted that I was, with monosyl
labic brevity, and we proceeded in
silence for a few rods.
" 'Spose he left plenty o' money?"
was the next query.
"Enough for the needs of his fam
ily," 1 replied.
"Pshaw!" he returned, in evident
disgust, "that's all ye'd say if he was
worth ten thousand dollars!"
Another short period of silence
elapsed, and then he b"gan abruptly:
"Powerful strange to me liaow a drink
in' man like him could acoomiiate so
nuich money an' hold to it so tight."
"I'm A-Gittin' to That," He Replied.
"I never lmew that Mr. Carney was
a drinking man," I replied, with a sud
den interest in my companion's gos
sip. "I mean," I continued, "I never
knew that he drank to excess."
"Drink!" exclaimed the man. "Why!
they wa'n't nuthin' he wouldn't do!
Drink, smoke, gamble an' cuss, be
sides throwiu' away his money on
most wasteful things! When Sam
Hoskins* boy was workin' up to the
place he seen him an' another l'eller
frum the city, a friend o' his'n, a-play
in' poker one day, an' one or t'other of
'em, I fergit which 'twas, lost seven
dollars an' 80 cents! An' as to drink
in', while he done most of it in the
haouse, he wa'n't above takin' a glass
at Hoskins' hotel every naow an' then,
too!
"I rec'lec', one day, a-settin' on the
stoop at Hoskins' wait in' fur a shaow
er to blow over, when I was agittin'
in my hay, an' ole Carney drove up in
his buggy. We was all a-talkin' abaout
Freemasons, an' as he climba aout I
sez to him, sez I, 'Re you a Freema
son?' sez I. 'No,' sez he,"l hain't,' sez
lie, 'but I'm a free thinker,' sez he,
'an' I think I'll take a drink,' sez he.
'Ye won't be a free drinker,' sez Hos
kins, under his breath and winkin' at
me, as he follers him into the barroom
to wait on him, an' sure enough, he
tole us afterwards, he charged him
reg'lar city prices, an' the ole man
never knew the difference."
"By the way, what made the men
leave the place so suddenly?" I asked,
cautiously, thinking to divert the fel
low's gabble in'o more profitable
channels. "You know they have all
gone, except the servants that were
brought from the city."
"Wal," said the man with delibera
tion, slapping the horse's back with
the reins and wriggling uncomfortably
in his seat, "they left fur two reasons,
I gues3. In fac', the folks 'baout here
ain't over anxious to work up to the
place anyway, though they was alius
willin' to be obligiri' a«' accommodate
ole Carney when they wa'n't nuthin'
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1907.
else fur 'em to do; but naow. It's coin
in' on hayiu' time, an' 1 s'pose they'd
rutber work at hayin'."
The man had turned his back on me
completely and was urging the horse
forward at a rapid gait.
"Very generous of them to accom
modate him when they had nothing
else to do, and then leave bis daugh
ter as they have, just because haying
time is here," I commented.. "But you
said there were two reasons. What is
the other?"
We rode on in silence for quite a
distance until, at length, the fellow re
sponded In a gruff voice s-nd without
turning his head.
"Wal! it may be true an' it may be
not! All 1 know is what I "leerd up to
Hoskins'. I don't take no pieat notice
o' ghosts an' sich. But them men
knows what, they seen the night after
the Widder Bruce's boy -J'-ed, an' I
know that ye couldn't git one of 'em
on the place again with a team o'
steers! No, sir! knowin' ».« they do,
the character o' man that o'e Carney
was, an' the way he as god as mur
dered that poor lad with his cussin'
an' quarrelin' an' fallin" off his boss,
"stead o' goin' to the stable an' sad
dlin' up himself, like any man would
that wa'n't too lazy to t&ke off his
coat when he et, it ain't no wonder
they believed what the Wilder Bruce
tole 'em more'n a year age!"
He paused here and flicked a fly
from the horse's neck w'th a dex
terous cast of his whip.
"What did the Widom Bruce tell
them?" I asked anxiously, fearing that
his communicative mood would leave
him.
"Wal, she come over here from Eng
land with her boy 'baout t.? e time ole
Carney was a-bulldln' his haouse, an'
she sez, as soon as she seen it, that
it was goin' to be jest like them places
over in England where them dooks
an' sech fellers live, that sooner or
later someone 'ud die a vi'lent death
there, an' then the piace 'ud be ha'nt
ed same's the dooks' places mostly is
"O' course, we didn't pay no special
attention to her.
"When her boy went up to the place
to work, 'baout a year ago, she took
on terrible, an' alius said no good 'ud
come of it, an' that, somethin' would
surely happen. Hut they wa'n't nc
other way out of it, fur they didn't
have a bite to eat nor a rag to wear,
an' if the boy hadn't decided to accom
modate Carney's folks I guess they'd
ha' starved.
"Ye see," lie continued, in explana
tion, "old Carney wouldn't never give
a cent to anybody that was able tc
earn it, an' when the parson come tc
him an* ast him to help the widder, all
he sez was, 'Send that big hulk of a
boy up here an' I'll give him a job an'
good pay so'z he kin support liiE
mother like a man,' he sez, 'but 1
won't give her a damn penny so lonj,
as he's able to work an' earn It,' hi
sez."
"But you haven't explained yet whj
the men left," I persisted, for we were
nearing our destination and my time
was growing short.
"I'm a-Rittin' to that," he replied.
"Ye see, Carney was such a mean,
stingy cuss that, what with his drink
in' an' gamblin' an' other vices, the
widder alius claimed he'd never rest
easy in his grave. When the boy was
killed she carried on like a crazy wom
an, an' swore the place would alius be
lia'nted 'less the estate did the honest
thing by her an' give her enough to
pay her fur the loss of her son. That
night, more fur fun than anything
else, a lot of the fellers that was a
settin' daown to Hoskins' went up by
the haouse 'raound midnight, but they
didn't ree nuthin'. The nex' night—
that's after you come—they all went
up again, an' I tell you they all come
back a-flyin'."
"What did they see?" I asked, with
renewed interest, as a BUdden Idea en
tered my head.
tTO BE CONTINUED.)
HAUGH^DIES.
Electric Chair Claims the
Murderer of Three.
IN THE PEN ANNEX.
Dayton Doctor Who was Convicted
of Killing His Parents and a
Brother Is Electrocuted.
Columbus, O. Dr. Oliver C.
Ha ugh, the Dayton physician, was
electrocuted early this morning tor
the murder of his parents and broth
er. He manifested an apparent indif
ference to his fate. All visitors were
excluded from the annex at the peni
tentiary Thursday and Haugli saw no
one outside of the prison officials ex
cept Father Kelley, his spiritual ad
viser.
Dr. Haugli never admitted the crime
for which he was sentenced to death.
He never discussed it, so his attend
ants say, after he entered the annex.
He is reported, however, to have pro
tested his innocence.
The murder of his parents and
brother occurred on the night of No
vember 4, J905. The house in which
the Haughs lived at Dayton was
burned and when search of the ruins
was made the bodies of the elder
Haugh, his wife and a son were found.
All circumstances indicated that the
family had been murdered and the
house burned to conceal the crime.
Dr. Haugh claimed he had barely es
caped from the house with Ills life,
Biid though lie denied that he had
committed any crime, suspicion point
ed toward him and after his arrest a
strong circumstantial case was made.
His defense was insanity, but he was
legally declared to be sane. It was
brought out, however, that he was ad
dicted to the use of a subtle drug
known as hyosciene-hydro-bromate.
Later attempts were made to con
nect him with the murder of several
women at Cincinnati who were mys
teriously strangled.
He was also said to lie involved with
a Mary Twohey, who died under sus
picious circumstances at Lorain, and
with a Mrs. Annie Patterson, who died
mysteriously at Chicago. Haugh was
married and his wife, now divorced,
and two children are living in Dayton.
During the early part of the night a
break in the machinery at the Co
lumbus public service plant threw the
big prison into temporary darkness.
The break did not interfere with the
electrocution in any way, however, as
the current for that purpose is sup
plied by the prison dynamo.
Gov. Harris received a great many
letters from sentimental persons ask
ing that the execution be stayed, but
no attention was paid to them.
TEN IN THE RACE.
A Warm Contest for the Wisconsin
Senatorship Made Vacant by John
C. Spooner's Resignation.
Madison, Wis. A deadlock ex
ists in the contest for the seat
in the United States senate occasion
sioned by the resignation of Senator
John C. Spooner. After several cau
cuses by the republican members of
the legislature, who are in the major
ity, wild the takiug of two formal bal
lots in joint session, there appears no
sig:i of an election.
There are ten candidates, five of
whom lead with about an equal num
ber of votes. Isaac Stephenson, the
wealthy lumberman of Marinette, who
has been a staunch supporter of Uni
ted States Senator La Follette, both
on state and national issues, in Thurs
day's joint ballot received 19 votes, be
ing lied with Congressman John J.
Esch.
Irvine L. Lenroot, ex-speaker of the
assembly and also a strong adherent
of La Follette, received 18 votes, as
did also Congressman H. A. Cooper.
William H. Hatten, of New London,
came next with 15 votes. Emil
Baensch, of Manitowoc, and F. *C.
Winkler, of Milwaukee, both so-called
"Stalwarts," received six and three
votes respectively, with the remain
ing republican votes scattering.
The democratic votes, 24 in number,
have thus far been cast for George W.
Bird, of Madison, while the social
democrats have been supporting As
semblyman J. P. Hummel, of Mil
waukee.
Mr. Stephenson at the outset of the
contest issued a statement declaring
that he was a candidate only for the
unexpired term and would not seek
re-election in case the honor were ac
corded him. Several conferences have
been held with Senator La Follette in
the interest of Stephenson, but not
enough strength could be mustered to
carry out the plans to seat the Mari
nette man. Friends of Congressman
Esch and Cooper are standing by
their candidate without any indication
of a break.
While considerable gossip has con
nected Gov. Davidson's name with the
contest, he has as yet received no
votes.
Found the Stolen $25,000.
St. Paul, Minn. The $25,000
stolen troni the ofllca of the
Northern Express Co. at the Union
depot Tuesday night, was on Thurs
day recovered. John Gunderson, the
robber, who was arrested Wednesday,
mnfes-ed to the police where he had
hidden the money.
Three Lives Lost in a Fire.
Montreal. —Fire on Thursday after
noon in the plant of tne Canada
steam laundry caused the loss of
three lives, two men and a woman,
and the injury of 12 otho/a.
§ Balcom & Lloyd. |
! 1
I WE have the best stocked
general store in the county |
and if yon are looking for re- fi
liable goods at reasonable jl
prices, we are ready to serve k
a you with the best to be found. H
pi Our reputation for trust- jj
i® worthy goods and fair dealing k
is too well known to sell any
but high grade goods.
yfj Our stock of Queensware and
D Ohinaware is selected with 0
jj great care and we have some gW
p of the most handsome dishes 0
] ever shown in this section,
| both in imported and domestic ffl
| makes. We invite you to visit
I us and look our goods over. jj
11
I I
| Balcom & Lloyd. j
I ! ■ ■■■ 1 T.I I*l _ I ,11 . 111, H _LJI 111 m
LOOK ELSEWHERE BUT DON'T FORGET
|| THESE PRICES AND FACTS AT
1 | LaBAR S|| |
N M
M IZZZZZZZZIII n
■I We carry in stock I"""""""™" ' 1 M
*4 the largest line of Car- . r 14
|| pets, Linoleums and i j
I ~, tenia u
El T s L P tt * b>sKae teMi IS
jf A very large line ot •FOR THE {J
N SSSF COMFORTABLE LODGING H
ii - & a
Z Art Squares and of fine books In a choice library
Rugs of all sizes and select the Ideal pattern of Globe-
II kind, from the cheap- Wernicke "Elastic" Bookcase.
est to the best I Furnished with bevel Frenij) I (
M plate or leaded glass doors. N
N Dining Chairs, I "»"«■* I
|| Rockers and GEO. J. LaBAR, £4
& High Cliail'S. Sole Agent for Camerou County. fcgt
A large and elegant F2
El line of Tufted and EJ
Drop-head Couches. Beauties and at bargain prices. 1 J
kg II
Nf3o Bedroom Suits, COC S4O Sideboard, quar- COfl
solid oak at tered cak |OU
M |2B Bedroom Suits, tf«)| $32 Sideboard, qnar- COC ![5
solid oak at 4!>ZI tered cak 4)ZJ ?n
$25 Bed room Suits, OH I |22 Sideboaid, quar- Cfc N
M solid oak at 4>£U I tered 0ak,... * SD H
M A large line of Dressers from | Ch ffoniers of all kinds and M
|g $8 up. all prices. ft#
||
kg The finest line of Sewing Machines on the market, kg
JJ the "DOMESTIC" and "ELDRILGE.' All drop- {J
112 5 heads and warranted. £2
I A fine line of Dishes, common grade and China, in ! :
** sets and by the piece. *
II As I keep a full line of everything that goes to ||
M make up a good Furniture store, it is useless to enum- ||
M erate them all. j£|
Please call and see for yourself that I am telling
you the truth, and if you don't buy, there is no harm kg
done, as it is no trouble to show goods.
EJ GEO. J .LaBAR. Bj
UIVDBFITAK.IKTO. #4
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